MP3 PREMIERE | Ana Silvera — ‘Hyperballad’ (Björk cover)

Putting the ballad back into a ’90s classic

Musically speaking, Ana Silvera and Björk don’t have a great deal in common. Ana’s refined, tender voice is worlds away from the Icelander’s raw, volcanic calls and swoops, and her strength lies in elegant piano balladry of the type not seen on a Björk record since, well, ever. But, in a way, it makes sense that ‘Hyperballad’ should be where the two women intersect.

Björk once described ‘Hyperballad’ as a song about the need to “make an effort consciously [to deal with your baggage]…do something horrible and destructive, break whatever you can find, watch a horrible film, read a bit of William Burroughs, something really gross and come home and be like, ‘Hi, honey, how are you?’.” Silvera’s music is often so pretty and fragile that it doesn’t seem infeasible she would work through the deep, lurking pain that flares up in tracks like ‘Song For Daniel’ (released as a single next week) in more aggressive and alleviating ways away from her piano.

North London isn’t blessed with mountains but now we know who to blame if any car parts, bottles and cutlery start piling up at the bottom of Hampstead Heath’s Kite Hill…

Tagged ana silvera, bjork